1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method, and more particularly to an ink jet recording method wherein a reaction solution and an ink composition are deposited on a recording medium to perform printing, and an apparatus using the same.
2. Background Art
Ink jet recording is a printing method wherein droplets of an ink composition are ejected and deposited onto recording media, such as paper, to perform printing. This method has a feature that images having high resolution and high quality can be printed at a high speed by means of relatively inexpensive apparatuses. In general, the ink composition used in the ink let recording comprises water as a main component and, added thereto, a colorant and a wetting agent, such as glycerin, for preventing clogging and other purposes.
On the other hand, in the ink jet recording method, the application of a polyvalent metal salt solution onto a recording medium followed by the application of an ink composition containing a dye having at least one carboxyl group has been recently proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 202328/1993). The claimed advantage of this method is that the polyvalent metal ion combines with the dye to form an insoluble complex, the presence of which can offer images having waterfastness and high quality free from color bleeding.
Further, the use of a color ink comprising at least a surfactant for imparting a penetrating property or a solvent having a penetrating property and a salt in combination with a black ink capable of being thickened or coagulated through the action of the salt has been proposed in the art (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 106735/1994). The claimed advantage of this method is that high-quality color images having high image density and free from color bleeding can be yielded. Specifically, an ink jet recording method has been proposed wherein two liquids, a first liquid containing a salt and an ink composition, are printed to realize good images. Other ink jet recording methods, wherein two liquids are printed, have also been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 240557/1991 and 240558/1991.
In the ink jet recording method using two liquids, the contact of the reaction solution with the ink composition can realize good prints. Upon contact of the reaction solution with the ink composition, the reactant contained in the reaction solution breaks the state of dispersion of a colorant and other ingredients contained in the ink composition, resulting in coagulation of the colorant and the like. The resultant coagulate is considered to be fixed onto the recording medium. As a result, prints having high color density and free from significant feathering and unevenness could be realized. Further, in the case of color images, uneven color mixing in boundaries of different colors, that is, color bleeding, can also be advantageously prevented.
The present inventors have now found that, in an ink jet recording method involving printing of two liquids, the deposition of a reaction solution onto a recording medium followed by pressing and optionally heating of the recording medium can realize better images. The present invention has been made based on such finding.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording method, involving printing of two liquids, which can realize good images.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording method involving the deposition of a reactant-containing reaction solution and an ink composition onto a recording medium to perform printing, said method comprising the steps of:
depositing the reaction solution onto the recording medium;
pressing and optionally heating the recording medium with the reaction solution deposited thereon; and
ejecting droplets of an ink composition onto the recording medium to record an image.